My last week of the year morning reads:
• Biden’s Economic Performance Has Proved Unbeatable No first-year president going back to Carter comes close to matching the current White House occupant’s No. 1 or No. 2 ranking in each of 10 key measures. (Bloomberg)
• 2021 was the year the world finally turned on Facebook Can a name change save the company’s tarnished reputation? (Ars Technica) see also Poll: Americans widely distrust Facebook, TikTok and Instagram with their data: Pulled between not trusting some tech companies and still wanting to use their products, people look to government regulation, according to a Washington Post-Schar School poll. (Washington Post)
• Here Are the Hedge Fund Surprises From 2021 Equity sector and CTAs were cut down by Omicron, a tech sell-off, and inflation fears last month. Still, investors did well with hedge funds this year, particularly in credit, quant, and multi-strategy. (Institutional Investor)
• Could Crypto Adoption Eventually Derail the Stock Market? Think about this space like the invention of the automobile in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. The first car company was founded in 1895. That’s Bitcoin in this analogy. There have been 3,000 automobile companies in the United States in total, yet by the 1950s the Big 3 — Ford, GM and Chrysler — had the market cornered. I think we’ll see something similar play out in the crypto market. (A Wealth of Common Sense)
• Icebreakers With…Bloomberg Columnist Matt Levine The Wall Street whisperer gives us his real thoughts on NFTs, the metaverse, and which Ancient philosopher would be the best day trader (Morning Brew)
• People really are giving NFTs as gifts. Results may vary. This year’s hot, unwrappable holiday gift is complicated, controversial and perfect for some. (Washington Post)
• The ‘most serious’ security breach ever is unfolding right now. Here’s what you need to know. Much of the Internet, from Amazon’s cloud to connected TVs, is riddled with the log4j vulnerability, and has been for years. (Washington Post)
• Strange Weather We’re Having How early 20th century journalists wrote about climate (Slate)
• Sports photos of the year 2021 The biggest international sports events, moments and stars of 2021 through the lens of the camera. (ESPN)
• How we destroyed The Matrix Fooled by its myth (UnHerd)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this week with, Max Chafkin, features editor and tech reporter at Businessweek. His work has also appeared in Fast Company, Vanity Fair, and the New York Times Magazine. His most recent book is “The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s Pursuit of Power.”
House price to income growth since 2000 (40% increase in income vs 49% increase in house prices after adjusting for inflation)
Source: @lenkiefer
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